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ND/Zarathras
Dragon}} Not much is known about dragons, except that they are rare and dangerous, and having an actual dragon in their ranks has taught the Liberation absolutely nothing new whatsoever. The legends certainly never said anything about dragons being chatterboxes, or having no sense of personal space, or constantly nosing through other people's stuff looking for something that smelled interesting - but those things seem to have little to do with Zarathras being a dragon, and everything to do with Zarathras being fundamentally Zarathras. It would be easy to blame it on his youth, but there are times - when he is listening with quiet intent, when he calls mountains and forests by names no-one alive remembers, when he sits with the wounded or the demoralized and shares quiet encouragement - that it feels like whatever lives behind the dragon's inquisitive eyes is ancient. At his best, Zarathras takes such exuberant joy in simply being alive that it's hard not to find his playfulness contagious. At his worst, he is greedy and grasping, pouncing on whatever catches his interest, assuming with aggravatingly patronizing arrogance that he's in charge and thus everything belongs to him. While he respects the leaders of the Liberation, he doesn't always feel the rules apply to him, and he has an obnoxious tendency to walk all over the chain of command - at least until it reaches the members of the Incarnate Hope, the Consul especially, for whom he shows an almost uncharacteristic deference. He does manage to have long-term goals now and then, and the foremost is bridging the divide between mortals and dragons - he steadfastly believes that dragons have the capacity for good, and that tales of their rapacious greed are just misunderstandings about the nature of dragons. He hopes for a day when the Liberation overthrows the Empire, while sheltered under the wings of their dragon allies. Zarathras is, however, self-aware enough to know that he is not like most dragons, and may never gain enough of their respect to fulfill his plan. There is something wrong with him, and he cannot tell what it is; his ancestral memory is imperfect, and he does not know why he acts like this or whether it is even a flaw. He is in many ways a creature at a crossroads, struggling to sift who he is from who he simply feels he ought to be. Zarathras towers over most of the Resistance members at ten feet tall at the shoulder, with the main bulk of his body just shy of fifteen feet long, and an enormous spade-ended tail extending a further twelve feet beyond that. Thick red scales cover his body, save his underbelly which is plated with heavy semi-flexible bands, and an inquisitive snout that appears permanently soot-blackened. A flexible crest runs from the top of his head to the end of his tail, presumably to aid stability in flight but mostly providing an interesting barometer of the dragon's mood when he's on the ground - flattened when sullen, upright when excited by some new terrible idea, and so on. Not really a creature you want to see galumphing through a crowd in your direction with a worryingly elated grin on its face, but unfortunately that is a common occurrence wherever Zarathras is stationed. In battle, though, the grin disappears and the fangs appear instead, a set of razor-sharp teeth that glow with heat - more than one orcish soldier has died not from the dragon's bite, but from having their internal organs boil and blister in the furnace of Zarathras' maw. Swipes of his razor-sharp claws betray powerful muscles working beneath the scales, and spears shatter against his scales, their wielders foolishly believing in myths about dragons having weak spots on their undersides. Between the roars, the gouts of flame, and the Imperial soldiers screaming as they burn alive, it's always possible to tell where Zarathras is on the battlefield. He keeps with him Anton's cheap crown, and considers himself the Dragon King of Isenmarch. He is utterly alone in this. Zarathras, Wyrmling Champion/Tough 396 Attributes (171) :ST 28 (Size, -20%) 72 (Includes +12 from Racial Template) :DX 13 40 (Includes +1 from Armor Deeds) :IQ 11 15 :HT 12 20 :HP 30 (Size, -20%) 4 :Per 11 10 :Will 11 10 :Basic Speed 6.25 0 :Basic Move 6 (Flight 12/24) Advantages and Perks (180) :Combat Reflexes 15 :High Pain Threshold 10 :Wyrmling Racial Template 90 :Extra Attack 2 (Separate Attacks, -20%) 40 :Damage Resistance 1 (Accessibility, Only in Heavy+ armor, -20%) 4. :Damage Resistance 1 (Scales, only in Dragon form) (Cannot Wear Armour, -40%) 3 :Dragon's Breath (add Incendiary 1) 2 :Dragon's Breath Alternate Ability: Imperishable Flame (Burning Attack 4d; Takes Recharge 5s, -10%; Biological -10%; All-Out -25%; Area Effect 2y, +50%; Persistent +40%; Incendiary 1 +20%; Alternate Attack *1/5) 7 :Add modifier to Tail: Long (+100%) 5 :Perk: Suit Familiarity (Jousting Armor) 1. :Perk: Ramming Speed 1 :Technique: Predator Landing (+2 to DX rolls to stay up after a pounce) 1 Deed Points (Armor) (46) :+1 DX 20 :Scales DR 6 (add Hardening, +20%) 6 :As-yet-unnamed shield: Fine, Balanced, Large Shield (18.25 lbs, DR9, HP 60, DB 3) ::+1 shield skill 4 ::Enhanced Block 2 10 ::Perk: Shield-Wall Training 1 :Dragonshell: Fine DR13 Jousting Plate (83.2 lbs) :An enormously heavy suit of plate armor, crowned with a crested helmet in the shape of a dragon's head. The internal construction does little to distribute the weight comfortably, as if assuming the wearer wouldn't notice. ::Injury Tolerance: No Vitals 5 Deed Points (Weapon) (44) :Follow-up Attack (Fangs, 2d Burning) 10 :Corona: Very Fine, Balanced Greatsword :A greatsword forged from shimmering steel. When wielded it bursts into actinic light, its blade followed by an eye-watering afterimage that cuts as deeply as the metal itself. Each strike creates flashes of light that dazzle and blind opponents. ::Extra Attack (Same target only, -20%) 20 ::Striking ST +8 16 ::Extra Arms 1 (Force Extension, +50%; No Signature, +20%; Weapon Mount, -80%) 9 ::Follow-up: Affliction 3 (Blindness, +50%; Sense-Based (Vision) -20%) 39 (pts taken from Misc) Deed Points (Miscellaneous) (109) :Armor Divisor 3 (unarmed damage) 22 :Dark Vision 25 :Croesus Tapestry (holds 125lbs or ~6cf of cargo) :A magical carpet with a dizzyingly complex design. Objects touched to the carpet can be stored inside it, appearing as part of the design. Touching the representation of the object can remove an object from storage. Unrolling the carpet and speaking a command word frees all the objects at once. ::Payload 8 (Cosmic, +50%) 12 Disadvantages and Quirks (-40) :Clueless -10 :Curious (12 or less) -5 :Greedy -15 :Chummy -5 :Alcohol Intolerance -1 :Dislike Reptilians -1 :Broad-Minded -1 :Proud -1 :Obsession: the First Hoard (antique gold) -1 Skills (86) : Combat Reference Damage w/ Corona: Sw 4d+1, Th 4d-1 Burning reference: Incendiary 1 breath attacks ignite Super-, and Highly-Flammable objects on exposure; Flammable objects (dry wood) at 1 point of damage; Resistant objects (clothing, seasoned wood, leather) at 3 points of damage, Highly Resistant (green wood, flesh) at 10 points, and Nonflammable (metal, brick) at 30 points. Dragon opening move: :Pounce: Roll Brawling +4 s(21,+4) (makes sense to make this Deceptive -6/-3 at least s(21,-2) ), on hit: 4d+25 piercing or cutting AD3 :Follow up: Fire Breath s(15,0,9), then one Claw/Bite/Tail s(21,0,9) or two Sword s(17,0,9) Damage reference: :Bite: (Th-1 +1/die brawling) = 4d+3 impaling AD3, then 2d burning :Claw: (Th + 1/die brawling) = 4d+4 impaling or cutting AD3 :Tail: (Th +1/die, +1/die brawling) = 4d+7 crushing AD3 :Fire Breath: 4d burning in a cone 20y long and 5y wide, or 4d burning Jet attack AD3, or 4d persistent 2y area 10/100 Defenses reference: :Parry with sword: 12 (3 + half skill 8 + combat reflexes 1) :Parry unarmed: 14 (3 + half skill 10 + combat reflexes 1) :Damage Resistance: 16 (Hardened Scales 6 + Tough Skin 10) ::vs AD2: 11 (Hardened Scales 6 + Tough Skin 5) ::vs AD3: 6 (Hardened Scales 3 + Tough Skin 3.3) :: Human Zarathras In his human form, Zarathras looks like a strong, somewhat scruffy red-headed man in his early 20s, somewhere north of a six and a half feet tall. He retains all the exuberance and blundering energy of his draconic self, but now he can fit into a room without his tail knocking over everything. He prefers his dragon form, and adopts the human shape only when the coming battle demands it, or if people insist that he do so because having a monster the size of a minivan bounding around is making everyone nervous. Quick Stat Reference Defense Rolls :Block (Shield): 18 = ( half skill 9 + DB 3 + Enhanced Block 2 + Combat Reflexes 1 + 3 ) :Dodge: 10 = ( Basic speed 6 + Combat Reflexes 1 + 3 ) :Parry: 12 = ( half skill 8 + Combat Reflexes 1 + 3 ) Attack Rolls :Sword: 18 = ( skill 18 + balanced 1 ) | Damage: 3d+6 cut = ( swing 3d+1 + Very Fine 2 + Greatsword 3 ) :Shield bash: 18 = (skill 16 + balanced 1 + enchanted 1) | Damage 4d crushing :Kick: 21 (-2) = (skill 21) | Damage 4d+3 = ( thrust 4d-1 + Brawling 4 )